


Little Blossoms

by Colress



Series: Transers (Trans Trainers) [1]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sun & Moon | Pokemon Sun & Moon Versions
Genre: Acceptance, Aether Family Bonding, Coming Out, Family Bonding, Gen, Gladion is intersex (Klinefelter Syndrome), Happy Ending, Identity Issues, Intersex Character, Less important but Professor Burnet is a trans woman, Lillie is a trans boy, Lusamine is working on being a good parent, Post-Game(s), Slight gender dysphoria, Takes place in the Ultra Sun/Moon universe, Trans Character, Trans Female Character, Trans Male Character, gender euphoria
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-04
Updated: 2018-11-04
Packaged: 2019-08-18 19:13:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16522991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Colress/pseuds/Colress
Summary: Something never quite sat right with Lillie. It wasn't something she could identify, and she chalked it up to how controlling Lusamine was. A new revelation about Gladion changes that.





	Little Blossoms

**Author's Note:**

> Hi I'm definitely not self-projecting what are you talking about?

I think the questions first started when Mother tried to face Necrozma. I finally got to wear something I picked out myself, my Z-Powered outfit, and it felt far better than the dresses I had been wearing all my life. I hadn’t thought too much about why I felt better—I simply thought it’s because I finally felt free from Mother’s control. I was able to make my own choices about myself, what I wore, what I did. I thought the relief was because of that freedom.

Mother told me, after we rescued her from Rainbow Rocket, that she liked the outfit a lot and said I looked beautiful in it. Something about being called beautiful didn’t sit right with me, but I shook it off. After all, I wasn’t used to her complimenting me after ten years of rigid control. She was trying to change for the better, of course it would sound weird the first few times!

But it just kept sounding weird when others complimented me, too. Professor Kukui, Miss Wicke, Elio, Hau, and even Gladion, my own brother. They kept calling me cute, or pretty, and on occasion beautiful. I kept quiet about it for almost a year, because I didn’t know what I wanted to be called instead. None of the words they used for me felt right. I thought about handsome once, and I thought it felt good, but I brushed it away. I probably just wasn’t used to compliments yet, I thought.

It wasn’t until nearly year after I had first run off that I finally found some clues. As Gladion turned fourteen, he was diagnosed with something called Klinefelter Syndrome. I’m still not fully sure what it is, but he says it makes his body more feminine than it should be, and the doctors were starting him on medicine to make him less feminine.

“Is there a way that I can be less… a girl?” I asked him, forgetting the word feminine at the time.

Gladion was silent for a while (I think I surprised him with my question). “Well… maybe?” he finally replied. “Do you not want to be a girl?”

I didn’t know what I wanted, so when I didn’t answer his question, he asked another. “Do you want me to call you my little brother?”

 _Brother._ The word instantly clicked with me, and it felt _right_. “That… feels a lot better than sister,” I told him.

We kept this between us for a while. Around others, Gladion still called me his little sister, and I put up with it as if I took no issue with it, as if it’s what I was meant to be. But when we were alone, it was our brother bonding time. He helped me search the internet and find ‘transgender’. I read about it, with him helping me understand some of the words I didn’t know, and I felt it described me really well. He said the specific term for me was a trans boy, and as soon as he said ‘boy’ I lit up with joy. This was _me_.

On my birthday, I decided to start coming out to others, with Gladion there to help support me. I started with Elio, who took the news well, and he immediately started calling me a boy. He also made it clear that anyone who tried to bring me down would face the wrath of Alola’s Champion. Gladion was happy to find a kindred spirit, since he already declared he’d send Silvally against anyone who tried to hurt me.

The hardest part about coming out to Hau was keeping him from telling everyone. I wanted to tell people myself, and on my own terms. Hau insisted everyone would accept me, but I wasn’t comfortable coming out to everyone yet. I wanted to keep it to those close to me for now. Thankfully, with some help from Gladion and Elio, he promised to keep quiet, though he was really happy I worked up the courage to tell him something big like this.

I was unable to tell Professor Kukui in person, but I visited Professor Burnet and we talked to him through a video call. Both professors were proud of me for having the courage to come out, and Professor Burnet even told me she was trans too! I couldn’t believe it! Sure, she was a trans woman, which I’m sure is much different than being a trans boy, but it’s nice knowing someone else like you.

Miss Wicke was the next person I came out to, with Gladion at my side. She was a bit confused at first, but after that she promised to give me whatever support I needed. But then… she asked if Mother knew yet.

I was terrified of telling Mother. I didn’t want to lose her love. Miss Wicke tried to assure me that Mother would still love me, but I was scared that in her eyes, I’d only be her beautiful daughter. Would she even accept me? Would I have to run away again? Maybe Professor Burnet would let me stay with her if this went bad, I thought.

I managed to avoid talking to Mother, aside from short greetings and the like, for almost a week before she decided we were having a family dinner. Together. No escaping her anymore. She was bound to try and talk to me then, as she probably noticed I’ve been avoiding her.

“Lillie, darling,” Mother started, “have I done something to upset you?” She seemed worried, probably because in these past several months we had been growing closer. But suddenly I started avoiding her as much as possible. It wasn’t because she did anything, just my own fear.

I shook my head. “Mother, I…” I started, but I couldn’t bring myself to continue. My throat felt as if there was a lump in it, and I could barely breathe. Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes as I shoved myself away from the table, running to my room. I vaguely heard Gladion shout for me to come back, but his words didn’t register.

I don’t know how long I hid in my room and cried before I heard a knock on my door. “Go away,” I mumbled between sobs. I was too scared to do it. I couldn’t face anyone after I ran away in fear. I stayed sitting on the floor, hugging my legs as I cried into my knees.

“Lillie,” Mother said, cracking my door open, “what’s wrong?” I looked up a little bit and saw she was more worried than before. “Gladion said you had something important to tell me. Is it something bad?”

I shook my head. “Not bad, but I’m scared you won’t love me anymore if I tell you…”

Mother came into my room, closing the door behind her and crouching down next to me. “Is this about how I was before Necrozma and Rainbow Rocket?”

I shook my head again.

“Then what is it, darling?”

“I’m trans,” I mumbled into my knees, looking down at the floor.

“What was that, Lillie?” she asked. She must not have heard me. Or maybe she didn’t believe me. I hoped it was the first one.

“I’m trans!” I yelled, tears still streaming down my face as I glared up at her. “I’m a boy, Mother!”

Mother stood up in shock (I hoped it wasn’t because of what I said, but instead how I said it). Aside from some quiet hiccups from me, in the aftermath of my meltdown, the room was silent.

“I-is that what you needed to tell me?” she asked after a while, her voice gentle as she crouched back down in front of me.

Sniffling, I nodded. “Everyone else close to me knows.”

“Oh, darling,” Mother said, hugging me tightly—the last thing I expected from her. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

“I was scared… we were finally growing close like a normal family, but… I thought you’d only be able to see me as your beautiful daughter.”

“Well, yes,” she replied, “but only if you are my daughter. If you’re a boy, I won’t call you my daughter anymore… my handsome son.”

Her words filled me with warmth, a warmth I had first felt with Professor Kukui when he let me stay with him. A warmth I felt when I first wore my Z-Powered outfit.

A warmth I felt when Mother, Gladion, and I started acting like a true family. I was brought to tears once again. “Thank you, Mother…”

“Just one more thing,” she said, standing up and helping me up with her. “If you’re my son, you’ll need a different name. Unless you still want to be called Lillie?”

I paused. Did I still want to be called Lillie? It’s a nice name, yes, but… I’m not sure it suited me anymore. “I… hadn’t really thought about that,” I finally responded, “but I don’t think Lillie fits me anymore.”

Mother nodded. “It’s settled, then. Tomorrow, we start looking for your new name—and some new clothes, too. Maybe a haircut as well, if you want shorter hair.”

Another knock on my door kept me from replying. “Everything alright, Lillie?” I heard Gladion ask. “You’ve been hiding for a while.”

I looked to Mother, who smiled and nodded, before opening the door. There he stood, his worry fading once he saw Mother standing with me and smiling.

“I'm not going to be Lillie anymore,” I replied.

“I’m helping him pick out a new name tomorrow,” Mother replied, and I felt the same rush of warmth when she called me ‘him’.

Gladion smiled. “I figured it would go well.” Conversation drowned away, as I could only smile at how everyone was accepting me.

Before I knew it, it was the next day, and Mother and I were searching the internet for baby names.

“I want my name to still start with L,” I had told her, “and I still want it to be plant-based like yours and Gladion’s are.”

The search was a difficult one. Many of the plant-themed names starting with L were girls’ names: Lilac, other spellings of Lillie, Lavender, Laurel, and many more. I found some nice boys’ names, but only one started with L (Lillian). That is, until I found a name that clicked instantly.

“That’s it!” I pointed to the name on the screen. “That’s my new name!” I wasn’t quite sure how to pronounce it, but Mother seemed to get the idea as she looked where I was pointing.

“Linden?” Mother asked, giving me the pronunciation. “You’d like to be called Linden, then?”

I nodded eagerly, barely containing my excitement. “Yes, that’s me!” No longer was I Lillie. I was Linden.

I _am_ Linden.

**Author's Note:**

> I might write a little companion one-shot at a later date, because I really like this headcanon. Linden is honestly really cute, and before this, I never even considered intersex Gladion (who, for the record, is ipsogender [intersex but personally considers himself cisgender]).
> 
> Also, before anyone tries to ask, yes I know a lot more about Klinefelter Syndrome than this. I was writing from the point of view of an eleven/twelve year old who wouldn't know that sort of information. Linden still has a lot to learn, since he's so young.


End file.
